Six States Stoners Should Avoid

Traveling this weekend? Got high this week? Don't go through these states

If you're one of the roughly 18 million Americans who admit to consuming cannabis at least once a month and you plan to drive in or through Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, or Utah this holiday season, then listen up. A couple of laws already in place might temporarily ruin your life -- even if you're not high while driving.

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Most of the country determines impairment on the road through behavior assessment, which means a swerve, slur, or moment of foolishness would serve as the primary proof of impairment. A urine, blood, or breath test that confirms those observations would just be icing on the prison shiv cake.

But these six states have zero tolerance per se DUI laws. Per se in this context means that the presence of predetermined levels of a substance in the body is the only evidence necessary to confirm someone drove impaired and to slap them with punishments. So, no, you don't necessarily need to be high while driving to legally be considered high while driving.

Let's say Utah's roads are icy this winter and late one Friday night Jane Doe gets into an accident that lands someone in the hospital with a serious injury. Jane has a High Times magazine in the backseat and the cop thinks, "hmm…" and asks her to take a blood and/or urine test. The puff she took a couple of days before at a friend's party shows up and according to Utah's law Jane was impaired at the time of the accident. The accident quickly changes from a private and unfortunate event to one that has Jane's face plastered on the local news and labeled as a reckless schmuck. This isn't exactly a fair scenario.

Some science: cannabis is a lingerer in the body, as far as substances go, and this makes it a problematic candidate for these zero tolerance per se DUI laws (which are themselves problematic). Hydroxy THC is the psychoactive metabolite that could indicate intoxication if found in the blood, but the level that determines impairment remains up for debate. For most people, hydroxy THC levels subside a few hours after smoking (or eating) cannabis.

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Carboxy THC is different. It's an inert metabolite that shows up in blood tests for days and in urine tests for weeks post-cannabis consumption, depending on frequency of use. (If you have ever utilized creative measures in preparation for a pre-employment urine test, this is the metabolite you tried to flush out of your body.)

In those six zero tolerance states, the strictest of the strict, any amount of even carboxy THC in blood or urine translates to "under the influence." That then translates to life-altering consequences.

When cannabis laws are relaxed to allow general use, lawmakers are likely to push for accompanying driving laws. After Colorado's legalization initiative passed in 2012, the state legislature defined driving under the influence as 5 nanograms of hydroxy THC per milliliter of blood; though, defendants are allowed to provide proof in court that they were not impaired. Washington's legalization initiative included a per se limit and any amount of hydroxy THC at or above 5 ng/ml is proof of impaired driving (no defense allowed in court). The per se rule became such a contentious issue in Washington that many legalization advocates opposed the legalization initiative fearing sober drivers would get screwed by the limit. But it's unlikely that many legalization measures will find voter and legislator approval without addressing driving. Until the research improves and catches up to help lawmakers get it right as the country moves toward legalization, we'll wind up with some less-than-perfect rules about cannabis on the road.

So zero tolerance per se DUI cannabis laws are baseless and bad and unnecessary. But here's exactly how bad it is in those six states for a first offense:

ARIZONA:Three to 12 months of a suspended license; 10 to 180 days behind bars; minimum of $1250 fine

GEORGIA: Up to 12 months of a suspended license; mandatory 40 hours community service; 10 days to 12 months in jail (24 hour mandatory minimum; mandatory probation if jail time is under one year); $300 to $1000 fine

ILLINOIS:One year of a suspended license; mandatory evaluation for drug treatment; up to $2,500 fine; up to one year in jail

INDIANA: One month to two years of a suspended license; up to two months in jail; up to $500 fine

OKLAHOMA: Ten days to one year in jail; up to $1,000 fine

UTAH: At least four months of a suspended license; at least $700 fine; two days to six months in jail

Nushin Rashidian (@nushinrashidian) is the co-author of the forthcoming book, A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition, which will be released by The New Press on February 4, 2014. Read more about the book here.

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